Bank of America Clamps Down on Mountaintop Stripping

As reported in a number of environment-minded blogs, the Bank of America has announced it will no longer make loans to coal mining companies that get more than half their coal from mountaintop stripping operations. The decision, hailed by the NRDCâ''s Rob Perks on the organizationâ''s Switchboard site and at Josephâ''s Rommâ''s ClimateProgress, may well outweigh in importance the Bush Administrationâ''s midnight-hour decision to loosen rules governing where strippers can deposit their debris. Though some might quip that the U.S. banking system is itself lamer than a lame duck, Bank of America is generally expected to play a bigger role than ever in the years ahead.